Toronto overcame a 23-20 first-quarter deficit to outscore the Mavericks by 16 points in the second quarter. The hosts were never threatened after that, leading by as many as 26 points late in the fourth.

"That was a great win for us against the second-best team in the West," said Toronto's Jose Calderon. "We played for 48 minutes, everyone was ready to play and do things on the court."

The defense especially impressed Raptors coach Jay Triano.

"We kept sharing the basketball and moving, had great energy at the defensive end of the floor that leads to deflections and leads to transition points," he said.

A key also was slowing down Nowitzki.

"We tried to get in front sometimes, we tried to switch and just make it difficult," said Triano. "We did not want him to get any type of rhythm going and Amir (Johnson) was a big part of that, as was Antoine Wright."

The loss was the third in four games for Dallas.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; editing by Ed Osmond)